A Duke but No Gentleman (2 page)

Briggs had some training, but it was apparent he had never faced a seasoned opponent. Although Tristan did not seek out battles, he had the skill to finish and win them. His persistent attacks and parries kept Briggs away from Norgrave, and it wasn't long before the man began to tire. Briggs was sweating, while his lungs were working frenziedly like inefficient bellows.

With a look of disgust, Tristan swiftly disarmed his opponent and pressed the tip of his sword to Briggs's throat. “I trust you have the good sense to sheath your sword.”

The man hastily nodded. “Aye, I do.” It took him a few attempts, but he managed to put away his short sword. “Only a madman would continue.”

“I cannot fault your reasoning. Now, if you don't mind, why don't you fetch the surgeon who had the good sense not to leave his coach. Caxton will need his skills since you managed to stab him.”

His burly shoulders hunched as the man winced at the reminder that he had contributed to his friend's injuries. He picked up one of the lanterns. “What about them?” He gestured in the direction of the sounds of grunts and heavy breathing. “No one mentioned this was a battle to the death.”

“It isn't. I have no desire to abandon my estates and flee England.” Tristan glanced over his shoulder, and shouted into the fog. “Gentlemen, blood has been shed. Can we assume everyone is satisfied?”

Norgrave and Caxton staggered into view. The viscount had enough blood on his shirt to make it appear that he had sustained a mortal wound. Their short swords were nowhere in sight. His friend had fared better, but he was not walking away from this duel unscathed.

“What say you, Caxton? Are you satisfied?” Norgrave asked too cheerfully for their situation.

The man loved a good fight.

“I'm too tired to fight you,” the viscount responded sullenly. “Aye, I'm satisfied—as long as you stay away from my wife.”

Brazen bastard that he was, the marquess clapped the gentleman on the shoulder as if they were old friends. “A reasonable request I am happy to oblige. I have a bottle of brandy in my coach. What the surgeon cannot fix, a glass or two will help ease.”

Tristan ruefully shook his head at Norgrave's mercurial mood as the two men headed for the coaches. Lord Caxton was never at risk of losing his wife's affections to the marquess. Norgrave had sampled Lady Audrey's charms and moved on to other conquests. No lady had ever claimed his friend's heart for long. He doubted such a female existed.

*   *   *

Hours later, Tristan and Norgrave were still celebrating their triumph at the marquess's residence. Along the way, they had collected two courtesans from their rented theater box. Jewel Tierney was an Irish beauty who had left her small village at sixteen and through a series of lovers had found her way to London. It wasn't long before she had secured a string of wealthy protectors. Both he and Norgrave had some history with the lovely Miss Tierney. He had been twenty when the dark-haired enchantress had cast a calculating glance in his direction. Their time together had been costly, but well worth it. Even so, he had been young and too wild to be tamed by any comely wench. His interest in her had quickly waned. There had been no recriminations. Ambitious and quite fickle in her affections, Jewel had moved on to other lovers—including Norgrave.

To Tristan's surprise, Norgrave and Jewel still shared a friendship of sorts, even though the fiery passion that had brought them together had burned out years ago. Occasionally lovers, Norgrave had an amicable arrangement with the twenty-nine-year-old courtesan. Intimately familiar with his carnal predilections, Jewel often handpicked young women who had recently arrived in London and would be appreciative of the marquess's protection.

She had issued the same offer to Tristan, but he had politely refused. His title and the Rooke family's good looks ensured he had a willing female in his bed whenever he desired. He also did not want to be beholden to the courtesan. He had never inquired into the particulars of her arrangement with Norgrave, but Jewel was too shrewd not to demand a price.

“Tristan, I pray you are not spoiling my victory by passing out on us,” grumbled Norgrave from the bed.

He had insisted that the four of them retire to his bedchamber so Jewel could clean the shallow scratches the surgeon dismissed as minor. The man had stitched up the wound on Norgrave's arm, and told him that he should confine his activities to his bed. His friend laughed and vowed to follow the old man's medical advice. Considering he was lying naked on the bed with only a sheet draped across his lean hips while two pretty women fussed over him, Tristan bemusedly wondered if Norgrave had bribed the surgeon for his opinion.

Reclining against the glassy blue silk cushions of the sofa, he did not bother opening his eyes when he replied, “More tired than foxed. It was a bloody long day and I had already developed a mild headache before we spent half the night drinking and playing cards. Not to mention our little adventure with Caxton.” As an afterthought, he added, “And don't think I won't collect my winnings on that last game.”

“You will forgive me for not beggaring you at the table as I often do.”

His brows lifted in feigned outrage. “The devil you do!”

Jewel and her friend Eunice laughed.

“I was distracted by Caxton,” his friend complained. “I had heard rumors at the club that he was working up the courage to challenge me.”

“You deserved it,” Tristan muttered without a trace of sympathy. “You were Audrey's first lover and then you made certain he knew it once he married her.”

“Cason, that was terribly wicked of you!” Jewel admonished the marquess. The bed creaked as the woman moved closer to soften the sting of her words with a kiss.

“Do not tell me that Caxton didn't deserve it. Besides, it was his wife who caused all the fuss when she fainted at my feet. How was I to know that the lady still harbored feelings for me?”

The other woman sighed. “You poor man … it must be difficult to have all of your lovers fall in love with you.”

Norgrave chuckled. “It is a curse.”

Tristan groaned. The man's arrogance was boundless. “
Love
is not the appropriate word. Most of your former mistresses despise you.”

When there was no sarcastic response from Norgrave, he opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder at the bed. While he had been lightly dozing, Jewel and Eunice had disrobed and joined the marquess in bed. In spite of the colorful bruising on his body, Norgrave had positioned Jewel so she sat astride his hips. She slowly rode his cock while Eunice cushioned his swollen cheek with her breast.

“At least most of them do,” Tristan said, dismissing Jewel and her curvaceous naked body as an aberration.

“I am certain they do, but their feelings are no longer my concern,” Norgrave said, proving his passions and his thoughts rarely intermingled. “Over the years, how many of my former lovers have cried on your shoulder, Tristan?”

He shrugged. “I've lost count, you callous villain.”

The marquess laughed. “And how many of those heartbroken and embittered wenches found solace in your bed?”

He grinned. “A few.”

Tristan shifted his position so he could rest his chin comfortably on his bent arm. He felt no embarrassment in observing Jewel as she moved as gracefully as a dancer while stroking her lover. Norgrave did not possess a dram of shame when it came to amorous displays. He was proud of his body, and his prowess as a lover. It excited him when others watched him take a woman.

In truth, Tristan was not as immune to the couple's love play as he feigned. It was not difficult to recall the softness of Jewel's skin, the silk of her dark tresses against his face, or the quiet sigh that always escaped her lips when he filled her. His testicles tightened at the thought.

His hand moved to his thigh. What he felt was lust, but it wasn't Jewel or Eunice that he hungered for—any woman would do. His duties to his family and his lands filled his days and nights, and he had little time for a demanding mistress. It was unlike him to deny his appetites, but he had not minded his self-imposed celibacy. As he observed Norgrave with Jewel and Eunice, his thoughts turned inward and drifted as he considered searching for an amenable lady who would satisfy him in bed while he was in London. He was not as hard-hearted toward his lovers as Norgrave, but he preferred an uncomplicated arrangement.

There was also Norgrave to consider.

Although he would be the first to heartily cheer if Tristan took a mistress this season, he would also place demands on his time. With his thoughts spinning in his mind like wooden puzzle pieces, he had not noticed that Eunice had left the bed at Norgrave's whispered request. It wasn't until she knelt beside the sofa that his gaze focused on her face.

“Your Grace, do I please you?” Eunice asked in a soft hesitant voice.

Tristan studied the naked woman offering herself. He had barely glanced at her when Jewel had introduced her, since he had only planned to toast Norgrave on his victory and retire for the evening. He wasn't surprised that his friend had other plans. As he took a closer look at Eunice's face, he could find little fault in it. He deduced her age fell somewhere between twenty and twenty-five, but it was difficult to tell with the cosmetics she had applied to her face. Her body was a bit too slender for his tastes, but her limbs were well formed and unblemished. He glanced at Jewel and wondered if this had been her strategy all along, since it was obvious the young woman was her current prot
é
g
é
e. If he needed a mistress while he resided in London, why not invite Eunice into his bed? Her thoughtfulness would spare him the time it would take to find a willing woman on his own.

Unfortunately, Jewel was too busy pleasuring his friend to confirm his suspicions.

Since the woman was expecting some sort of answer from him, Tristan shifted his gaze back to Eunice. “You are quite lovely, my dear. Nevertheless, I am quite content with my brandy and thoughts. Nor would I wish to deprive Norgrave of your company.”

Her face fell with disappointment. “But he said—”

From across the room, Norgrave seemed to choke with laughter. “Tristan, don't be an arse. If your cock gets any stiffer, the buttons on the flap of your breeches will pop.”

“Tend to your own business,” Tristan snapped, as he glanced down and noted the prominent bulge at the front of his breeches. It was pointless, but he tried to conceal his arousal with his hand. If he had the capability to blush, he would have in that moment.

The marquess snorted, and delivered a hard slap on the courtesan's buttock. “And you, to yours, my friend.” Jewel gasped in surprise as Norgrave pushed her onto her back and covered her. He growled against her throat and she laughed in delight.

Tristan started at Eunice's touch. She had moved closer while he had been distracted. Her left breast brushed against his thigh as she reached for the buttons at the front of his breeches.

He placed his hand over her fingers as she worked the first few buttons free. “Pray ignore my friend. I did not lie. I have no expectations. If you wish to return—”

“I do not, Your Grace.” She tipped her face earnestly upward. The manner in which her hair tangled around her face was quite charming. His high opinion of her increased, when she boldly slipped her hand into his breeches and curled her fingers around his engorged cock. “You have your thoughts and brandy. Leave this to me.”

His left leg slipped from the cushion as his legs parted until his foot rested on the floor. Eunice accepted his silent invitation, and crawled closer until she could press her breasts against the apex of his thighs. Tristan did not stop her when she pulled down the flap of his breeches and released the hot length she stroked with eagerness. There was no point denying the fact that he was aroused, and Eunice's shy offer had eroded his restraint.

Any female will do.

Norgrave, the arrogant bastard, had deduced his needs even before he had.

From his friend's point of view, the woman admiring his cock was merely a means to an end. Norgrave did not truly care which woman Tristan bedded as long as he ceased behaving like a bore.

The realization dampened his ardor.

He detested being manipulated. Eunice sharply inhaled when he abruptly grabbed her by the hair to stop her from lowering her head. Their gazes met. One held bridled anger and the other pain and fading lust.

“Let me pleasure you, Your Grace.”

Without waiting for his reply, her tongue shot between her lips and she licked the head of his cock. The muscles in his stomach rippled and he swallowed the groan forming in his throat.

“Bloody hell, woman. Are you trying to kill me?”

Eunice's eyes crinkled in mischief. “I'll give you my answer in the morning.”

Her lips parted and this time Tristan gently guided her mouth to his straining arousal. Eunice opened her mouth wider and she took as much of his rigid length as she could. He clenched his teeth as she held onto the base of his cock to control the depth of his thrusts.

Tristan was dimly aware of Norgrave's perusal as sweet Eunice pleasured him with her talented mouth. The smug bastard knew he had won this battle. For now, Tristan was inclined to let his friend savor his small triumph because their battle of wills revealed one thing—he did not have the temperament for celibacy.

Nonetheless, when he returned to London, he would handpick his own damn mistress.

 

Chapter Two

June 1, 1792

London

 

“Imogene!”

The lady in question sat in front of her dressing table as her maid finished curling her hair. She did not consider herself a vain creature, but it was important that she look her best this evening.

“That is the third time Papa has bellowed your name,” her younger sister said anxiously. “You know how he is. If he has to shout your name a fourth time—”